FWC Boosting Bear Education With New Videos

State wildlife officials say human-bear interactions are on the rise, and they’re trying to educate Floridians on ways to defuse those situations.

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The Florida Fish and Wildlife commission is turning to the online video platform Vimeo to teach people how to stay safe when they cross paths with a Florida Black Bear. One key is standing your ground.

“Avoid eye contact and make your movements obvious and direct,” the video’s narrator says. “Don’t play dead, run or turn your back on the bear. Similar to a dog, running from a bear can trigger its instinct to chase.”

If possible, the video suggests getting to a safe place, and making sure the bear has an escape route.

“Now, scare that bear,” the narrator says. “Let it know you’re there, and that it’s not welcome. Clap your hands, use an airhorn, or blow a whistle or your car horn. Wild black bears are usually easy to scare away with noise.”

The commission says most interactions happen when bears are searching for food, so it’s important to secure attractants like garbage, pet food, or grills.

Officials warn the animals have a wide ranging habitat—most of the state is bear country.

The state would set aside $230,000 for bear-resistant trash cans and outreach programs to reduce conflicts between humans and bears, as part of Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $79.3 billion budget.

The money would be used to partner with residents, local governments and businesses as a way to prevent bear attacks, according to a press release that accompanied Scott's budget on Monday. The funding request will be considered during the 2016 legislative session that begins in January.

The Humane Society of the United States on Monday delivered more than 90,000 names of people who, the group says, want Gov. Rick Scott to halt anticipated approval of the state's first bear hunt in more than two decades.

Scott, however, is deferring to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on the proposed hunt, which has the backing of the powerful National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida.